LABOR: First for Foremen

Ford Motor Co. last week finally made up its
mind about the question roiling Detroit (TIME, May 15): are foremen
laborers or an arm of management? By signing a contract with the
aggressive Foreman's Association of America, an independent union, Ford
answered: foremen are laborers. This was the first formal contract
which the two-and-a-half-year-old union had won from management.

The contract omitted the closed shop and checkoff which spry old Henry
Ford had granted U.A.W.-C.I.O. But the company recognized the F.A.A. as
bargaining agent for its 9.000 foremen, hoped that the contract "will
produce better relations between the company and the...